Are zoos expensive?

An old friend of mine, a zoo professional, used to say that zoo admission should be aligned to a cinema ticket, they gave a similar amount of entertainment. The problem is while cinemas have reduced costs with multiplexes etc., zoos have become more expensive to run with larger and more naturalistic enclosures, better animal care, and an expectation of things like keeper talks and conservation work.

 

Chester is now charging £5.50 for hot dogs and burgers, I think that is very expensive.

Also I compared prices for probably the best zoo in the U.K. (Chester) and probably the best in the world (Berlin), Chester is far more expensive.

Adult admission Berlin 15 euro (= £12.98)
Adult admission Chester £24, almost twice the price.

Berlin adult membership 49 euro (= £42.41)
Chester adult membership £100

 

Isn't Berlin subsidised?
Certainly zoo restaurants are expensive but I'm often to lazy / disorganised to take food. On foreign zoo trips I make sandwiches out of the food at the breakfast buffet in the hotel.

 

I just paid £1.90 for a 150ml can of lemonade on a flight . . . I think I just accept that food and drink is much more expensive in some settings - airports, zoos, theatres and cinemas included!

 

I’m far from rolling in it, believe me! I’m not under the impression that I have ever alluded to that at any point? I am on a really great salary for my age, yes, but I am also in absolute masses of debt so my disposable income is extremely limited if you want the bare truth of it. I often have to put my gas, electricity and food shopping on credit so that I can afford to have any kind of enjoyment in my life, but if you think that equates to rolling in it, so be it! You really have no idea how much I have to break my back to try to create a life for myself that’s worth living.

 

I think Lowry Park Zoo (now Zoo Tampa) is really expensive for what its worth. I paid $50 plus tax for myself and a friend in 2012 and it wasn't worth it especially given that the Shoebill free flight aviary wasn't open and the safari tram ride didn't stop to be able to get a decent photo of the Patas Monkeys. I can understand that the zoo needed the funds when Lex Salisbury was in charge and building Safari Africa, but with the zoo's location by BG and the many same animals that are also housed there and the too numerous obstructive barriers I don't understand the high ticket prices.

 

But this is without the aquarium, then it would be 21 euro, still way cheaper than Chester though. And no Zoo Berlin does not seem to get subsidized by the city anymore. 76% of their generated income in 2016 came from the entrance fees, zoo shops etc and 23% were gifts to the zoo.

But yes many other German zoos are (partly) subsidized, just as several Swiss zoos. As with 26 CHF for Zurich, they are cheaper than many English zoos, even though Switzerland in general is more expensive, but also have a much higher GDP....

When comparing zoo entry prices between different countries, you should also look at differences in GDP between them. Even though Wroclaw for example is much cheaper then most western zoos, Polands GDP is 3 times lower than the UK. So for an average Pole, going out to that zoo is just as expensive as going to Chester. A zoo like Prague remains much cheaper however.

 

I was once priced out of a zoo: I found that I don't want to visit Monterey Aquarium for 50 bucks. I went to see wild sealions, sea otters and elephant seals for free instead.

I worry that the price is somehow eroding the role of zoos. San Diego zoo, for example, may make more money by charging visitors $60 instead of, as when it opened, charging 60 cents. But it means that a zoo visit became a rare event. A family may take children to show them live animals maybe once or twice in their school years, instead of just coming by every Sunday. So for these children, live animals become rather distant and not permanent part of their lives. They would formally know them, but not care about wildlife conservation more than about world peace or any other big cause which nobody actually does much practical action about.

 

The places you mention are popular with tourists, which I'm guessing is the reason for the high daily ticket prices. But I'm looking at the websites for SDZ and MBA and their membership prices are fantastic. So I imagine that they still get plenty of regular visitors.

 

I easily went to the zoo less than ten times in my life before I was 23 years old (including school trips and being taken by friends’ parents) - my parents couldn’t even afford to clothe me properly or to support me to complete an education, so funding things like this was absolutely out of the question. But I still care about wildlife conservation more than any other big cause. It doesn’t always have to be formed in childhood.

 

lintworm is spot on; the price of zoo admission and amenities is strongly influenced by the purchasing power of its most common groups of visitors. So what appears to be expensive for one that has little money to spend is cheap for another who is more wealthy. Or as a friend of mine who lives in Switzerland used to joke: The good thing about the high living costs in Switzerland is that wherever else you go, it's always cheaper than in Switzerland.
Berlin's two zoos are actually a good example for this. While Berlin Zoo is located in a very touristic and relatively affluent part of the (generally indebted) city, the neighbourhood of Tierpark Berlin is less so. Therefore, the Tierpark offers more reduced entrance fee options for socially and financially disadvantaged people or families with many children.

 

You're addressing a very important point that is a constant topic of discussion when it comes to the pricing policy of zoos. On the one hand, a zoo should be open to all people to serve its function in the education of the public. So if you exclude people because they cannot afford the admission, you also exclude them from said option to educate themselves. On the other, zoos, in particular the ones that are not subsidized, have to be run like any other efficient business to keep on going. To find a middle ground, some zoos are offering special reduced entrance fees or even free admission for certain groups (I think Moscow Zoo is probably one of the most generous zoo in regard to the many social groups they allow in for free) or random "Choose how much you want to pay" events (like Münster Allwetterzoo). Others advise their local resident visitors to get annual passes to save money on repeated visits - which isn't usually a great option for the random perambulating zoo visitor. And a few noteworthy zoos are even free of admission, like the National Zoo, Lincoln Park Zoo or the lovely Heimattiergarten Schönebeck.

The silliest way to determine the entrance fee in a zoo that I've encountered so far was in Rome many years ago, when the local zoo charged children as adults if they were taller than a certain predetermined height...^^

 

I think the best way to welcome repeat visitors and encourage them into conservation is to have staff/volunteers on hand to engage with them. One of the biggest risks is that most staff/vols are doing a certain job such as feeding talks, feeding, cleaning, observing (in interaction enclosures). This means that whilst most are willing to talk, they often don't have the time to dedicate to it long term. I think the more personal interaction and conversation can reinforce a persons interest far more so - heck look at Zoo chatters who engage in such discussions and go for that little bit more than just what the viewing panel has written on it about a species.

The next level up from that is a strong volunteer program to try and get more people into helping out. Of course such a system should never be done at the expense of staff; but getting people more involved and showing them what goes in can be huge building blocks. Especially as things like zoo work or conversation are not always the kind of job that gets "advertised" to people (although its a lot better now than it was 20 odd years ago). Showing people how they can get involved, what happens, showing them where it can lead to work (even if its not work in zoos), how they can take part etc...

Even things like just providing a higher level of information through the zoo itself of through its shop - again its targeting the fewer rather than the masses, but its also filling a need in providing more depth to the experience and the message that the zoo is trying to convey. I oft feel that there's a huge amount of effort put into the initial pitch of conversation and zoo work, but that sometimes the follow up to that is far more muted.

 

@overread: So how did you get from zoo admissions (i.e. the original thread title "Are zoos expensive?") to zoo educational programs? A bit OT, isn't it?
For sure, there are several ways zoo education can be improved. But its effect is already diminished when only a few can afford to visit the zoo in the first place.

 

Take in account that there are also free zoos, such as Voliere Mythenquai in Switzerland or Nogoyama zoo in Japan. For sure these can't be considered expensive!

 

Didn't I mention free admission zoos? Hmmm, let's see - indeed, I did:

However, free of admission doesn't entail that food, beverages, souvenirs and other amenities are free of charge, too. So depending on your individual consumption, the free admission zoo might be more expensive than you think. ^^

 

Great information on this thread. Zoos in Ireland Admission prices and attendence (roughly) figures are,
Dublin, €17.50. 1.1 million
Fota, €16.50. 500,000
Tayto park, €15.oo. 750,000.
Belfast, €14.50. 300,000
Belfast discount for children, seniors and students is 50%, while the others discount 25% or less.
Reading a report from 2015 it gives annual incomes for Chester 26m. Dublin 14m. And Belfast 1.7m. Which is a shame really, as Belfast has such a great collection.

 

This is a very subjective question. Some people can go through a zoo rapidly and move on when they've seen an animal in its enclosure. They may then leave after 1-2 hours. Others can spend a long time at one enclosure; some Zoochatters stay all day at a zoo and probably get much better value for money, especially it they talk with volunteers and other staff.

In 1999, I paid £9.50 to go round Buckingham Palace and left after 35 minutes, as labelling was practically non-existent and you aren't allowed to re-enter rooms. £20 for a 3 hour zoo visit is better value for money, although I prefer to see a variety of species and exhibits, rather than massive exhibits for a few species I have seen several times before.

 

I’ve been a volunteer at Edinburgh Zoo and Chester Zoo and I found it quite surprising how few visitors wanted to talk and engage!